Look Down

 

‘Look down, Look down

Don't look 'em in the eye

Look down, Look down’

sung by Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert - principal characters in Les Miz

To avoid wrath of the law in the teeming, squalid streets of 1832 Paris, Jean Valjean, aka Prisoner 24601, and his fellow convicts made a practice of looking down to avert the eyes of their guards. It was good advice. Casting eyes south happens to be good advice for me now as well for two important reasons, one of health and one of choice. Both merged into sharp focus one frigid New Hampshire Valentine’s Day a decade ago. Here’s what  transpired.

The holiday get-away had come to a close and I was packing up the car. Perhaps with two more passes, maybe one if I really loaded up, I felt the task would be finished. Trying to be very efficient I opted for the latter, carrying all remaining bags. So, loaded to the hilt I stepped out for what I was sure would be the final trip. To borrow from Astronaut Neil Armstrong words as he stepped onto the Moonscape in 1969, that one small step for man turned out to be one giant leap into the OR for me. With eyes looking straight ahead I easily missed black ice below. So there I lay, on the floor with bags scattered around, but most having landed on my now shattered right ankle. It would require an orthopedic erector set of screws, plates, and wire to restore function. Ouch! Needless to say, I have been very strategic about where I plant my feet since that fateful day to ensure no reruns of this Valentine’s Day Massacre, especially during winter. That’s health advice I adhere to.  

Advice of choice for me lives within the photographic realm. The guideline to follow there starts with using one’s feet when in a compositional search of the optimum perspective. But once there, one should also pause to look behind, upward, and then downward. Sometimes that’s where the image will be found.  

Consider this scenario: my wife and I just completed an indoor self guided tour of the Hoover Dam’s inner workings. We then stepped out into a dazzling midday Nevada sun. Although eager to photograph the massive arched behemoth in its jaw-dropping panorama of the desert and Lake Mead, the blinding sunlight forced me to cast my eyes away. That’s where I saw shadows of the stair railings having etched an MC Escher-esque pattern on the sun bleached concrete …. click, I had the shot. Gradually as the rods and cones of my retina recovered from the shock of the indoor-outdoor transition, I was then able to capture other views of my original intent.

Back on the East Coast amidst skyscrapers in the concrete jungle of Manhattan, enough  sunlight to illuminate a scene is not a primary photographic concern. Finding an uncluttered background is the challenge. And therein lies another important guideline to follow - with camera in hand, seek a clean background for the main subject. It’s not an easy feat on the chockablock streets of the Big Apple, but looking down can pay dividends. For example, we were out for a stroll with my son and first grandchild, a two something little tot. To fully savor the experience, I took a step back to view the intergenerational family trio. But for complete enjoyment I needed to document the vision. Problem was I couldn’t isolate them from the distractions of all those New Yorkers bustling about.Then I looked down. There it was, the three hand in hand in synchronized step. Click. It’s become one of my most endearing images. 

Circling back, looking down helped Jean Valjean in his quest to endure years of captivity. Looking down continues to help me in the quest to avoid winter's pitfalls. It's also important in  the continuous quest for capturing the optimum image.

images © David Greenfield

To all my followers I wish you a safe, healthful, and fruitful new year.